The present invention relates generally to the field of archery bows, and more particularly to a handheld archery bow that shoots a sabot containing a plurality of darts or shot pellets.
A conventional handheld compound archery bow includes a riser coupled to top and bottom limbs and further includes top and bottom cams or wheels that each have an axle coupling it to the end of the respective limb. A grip is located on the riser approximately at the midpoint between the axle of the top cam and the axle of the bottom cam. An arrow rest is typically located on the riser just above the top of the grip. A single arrow is drawn back by the archer and released toward the target. The arrow needs to be longer than the draw length of the archer so that it extends beyond the front of the bow at full draw. The compound archery bow shown and described in my U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,829,974, 4,958,617, 5,119,797, 5,263,465 and 6,142,133 also shoots a single arrow, but it can be shorter than the draw length of the archer. Since only one arrow can be shot at a time, conventional handheld compound bows cannot shoot multiple arrows in a pattern similar to the pattern provided by shot pellets fired from a shotgun. Thus, a conventional handheld compound bow is not well suited for bird or small game hunting. Accordingly, there is a need for an improved handheld compound archery bow that is capable of simultaneously shooting a plurality of darts or shot pellets that disperse in a pattern.